String of global hits marks rising interest in New Zealand writers while industry voices concern over future arts funding
When author Emily Perkins decided her next novel would be set in the New Zealand capital, her editors in the UK were pleased. The 53-year-old says this specific detail “seemed to spark interest rather than resistance”. The book, Lioness, tells the story of a self-styled, luxury guru who faces midlife reckoning amid whispers of fraud, and a new friendship with her charismatic neighbour.
“There was absolute openness about something that was set in Wellington,” she says.
